Tuesday, September 25, 2007

I owe an apology and thanks to DC. An apology because it took me a whole month to write this entry. Everyone who was excited about me taking pictures during the dinner had already given up on asking me when I was going to post the entry. A word of thanks also because thanks to DC (and rising property prices!), I had the privilege of dining at Iggy's; pride and joy of Singapore's dining scene and of course, world's 60th best restaurant. I'm not going to go into much more details about Iggy's since I don't think it needs much introduction. Let's just move to the focus of that night. Sit tight, this is going to be long. Here we go!

We started with the trio of amuse bouche. We were advised to eat them in the order of right to left because of the level of flavours. Very typical fine dining style. I would have simply left what I thought was most delicious 'til the last if I wasn't told. HA!

From left to right: Foie Gras Creme Brulee with Brioche, Sturgeon Mousse with Caviar, Cappellini with Mentaiko & HerbsAnyways, we started with the Cappellini with Mentaiko & Herbs which was delicious. The mentaiko also gave the pasta a slight spiciness at the end. I've been a fan of mentaiko pasta since my visit to Hong Kong. My only gripe here was that a spoonful was simply not enough! The second amuse bouche was a Sturgeon Mousse with Caviar. Flavours were starting to get a little heavy on the tongue. This was the first time I had mousse which has a fishy flavour and I kinda liked it. Good thing they served this chilled otherwise I don't think the flavour would have gone down well in my throat. The final amuse bouche was also my favourite; Foie Gras Creme Brulee with Brioche. The foie gras was rich and creamy and went well with the lightly toasted brioche. Honestly, I was only short of licking the little bowl.At the end of the amuse bouche, I started to have thoughts at the back of my mind...

What's next?

So this is what the hype is all about..

YAY! I finally dined at Iggy's!

Wah.. they change my cutlery every time I finish my course!

- Looking at the menu - Long way to go man...

My bag gets to sit on a bag chair!

I'm eating at the best fine dining restaurant in Singapore! And I don't have to pay!! hahaa..

Wagyu Carpaccio with Rocket, White Truffle Mayonnaise & Parmigiano ReggianoI snapped out of it when my first course arrived at the table. I've had beef carpaccio on previous occasions but never with waygu beef. The beef was fresh and the dish was simple yet excellent. The white truffle mayonnaise however, didn't add much to the dish for me because my tongue was not discerning enough to taste the flavour of the truffles in it. This was one of my favourite courses for the evening.

Mushroom & Summer Truffle Tart, Tapenade Sauce

I thought that this course was one of the more forgettable courses of the evening. It still was delicious but honestly, didn't leave much of an impression because it didn't cause fireworks in my mouth. I can't remember much of it now since I had this a month ago. Like I said, pretty forgettable.

Egg Cocotte with Foie Gras Tempura, Unagi & Baby Spinach SaladThe third course scored full marks and as many As as you can imagine in my books. It was a tad rich I admit with the soft boiled egg and the foie gras tempura but it was oh-so-good. The tempura had a light crispy batter and the unagi was plump and sweet.

It was pretty interesting to eat this cos we had to use a little spoon to stir the beef broth and the soft boiled egg first because we poured it all over the foie gras and the spinach. This was my favourite for the evening; simply because the rich flavours still remain etched in my mind.

Breaded Fish Maw with Champagne Nage, Tomatoes & Avruga CaviarThis course was a little bit of a let down for me. While the fish maw was fried beautifully, it was a very bland dish because the fish maw couldn't absorb any flavours. I though that the cream based sauce wasn't enough to lift the flavours although the tomatoes did help a little with its sweet, tangy nature. I still prefer fish maws in my double boiled soups.

Sakura Ebi Cappellini with Konbu and Home-made Scampi Oil

Halfway through the dinner and we were served an Iggy's favourite. It definitely lived up to its name because this dish was delicious. A lot of work definitely went into the dish because a poor guy in the kitchen had to cut the konbu so finely and evenly. I had a similar dish at Ember over a year ago but Iggy's version was definitely heavier on the flavours because of the scampi oil and konbu. In fact, it was a tad salty but nonetheless, fragrant and delicious. DC was talking about replicating the dish at home and I told him that he could replace the konbu with chye poh in case he didn't know how to handle the konbu! Jokes aside though, this was definitely a winner.

The last course for the evening before we hit the dessert. Lamb is one of my favourite meats and I thought this course was perfectly done. The colours were fantastic, the meat had the right doneness, and it was tender and flavourful. I'd even recommend this dish to those who usually stay away from lamb because of its smell.

I was starting to get full even before the desserts arrived but thank goodness, sweets go into a different compartment in my tummy. Yes, self delusion is harmful but I need this once in a while.

Japanese White Peach with Champagne Jelly, Sorbet & Elderflower Foam

The first dessert course arrived and I almost didn't want to eat it cos I thought it looked so pretty. Personally, this wasn't one of my favourite desserts because I thought the alcohol in it was too strong for my liking. The only things I liked about this course was the aromatic elderflower foam and the sweet slice of Japanese white peach.

The blueberry cheesecake seemed like a familiar dessert but it was actually pretty unusual cos there was blue cheese in it. It gave the cheesecake a little chalky flavour which I thought was pretty interesting but DC just couldn't bear to eat more than 2 bites of it. The mocha shake was an additional throw in and I wished I had more. The shake was frothy and satisfying. It even had little chocolate balls inside!

Chocolate Mousse Wafer, Brioche French Toast with Maple Syrup Ice CreamIf you thought that my dinner had come to an end, think again. A kind host threw in an additional dessert; his favourite which incidentally turned out to be my favourite dessert of the evening. Apologies to the little chocolate wafer with chocolate mousse. I could have done without it because the french toast and maple syrup ice cream simply outshone everything else. The brioche french toast was light and coated evenly with sugar. It also went extremely well with the maple syrup ice cream. Absolutely to-die-for! I could have this every single day; breakfast, lunch and dinner!

It was a super long dinner; around 3 hours to be exact. I thoroughly enjoyed it though because the company was great and hilarious conversations kept flowing throughout the meal. I also got to meet Iggys himself. He caught me taking some pictures and offered to allow me to take a photo with the whole kitchen crew. It was a bit embarrassing but I did take that picture at the end. That picture will stay in my private collection for memories sake.

Thanks again to DC for the wonderful meal. It was definitely worth the dining experience and something that I will remember for a long time to come. I'm just waiting for SO to make his own deal soon. If that happens, we'll be making dinner arrangements again pretty soon. Lucky me!

7 comments:

What is the problem with some people? "don't like lamb because of the smell?"

The smell is the lamb is the smell is the lamb.

Just like over washed prawns have no flavour left and are oh so common in the local food. I know, I know, they are there just to add some crispy texture; but I have had enough of "texture only" in recent kitchens. Cooking is sight, smell, flavours and texture; interestingly, nowhere am i concerned about "how", the "complexity" of the preparation does not deserves extra stars.